Many personal care products, such as cosmetics, contain chemical materials that are derived from petroleum or extracted from plants. However, the use of these materials depletes natural resources and is not sustainable. Furthermore, petroleum derived oils such as mineral oil, when applied to the skin, are occlusive in nature. They can seal off the skin from air and water, and block the pores and the skins' natural respiration process. Blocked pores can result in trapped dirt and oil, leading to blackheads, pimples, and other undesirable skin conditions. The occlusive nature of petroleum derived oils can also create a warm, moist environment for bacteria or fungi to grow. Therefore, petroleum derived chemical materials are not ideal in personal care product formulations.
There is also a continuing need for new feedstock materials, preferably derived from renewable sources. In particular, many commercially available consumer and industrial products contain solvents that include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are environmentally unfriendly. Solvent compositions are useful in a wide range of products for removing organic and other substances of furniture, floors, walls, mechanical devices, automobiles, bicycles, clothing, skin and the like. Useful solvents have advantageous properties, such as vapor pressures, viscosities, degreasing powers, stabilities, odor and/or color. For many applications, advantageous safety profiles are desired. Solvent compositions with low environmental impact and low VOC content are needed, and few solvent compositions have been provided from sustainable, renewable sources.
Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative sources to the petroleum derived chemical materials and plant extracted compounds in personal care products. There is also a continuing need for new solvent compositions with desired properties, if possible, from sustainable, renewable sources. Embodiments of the present invention meet these and other needs.